Shadowed Pasts
by Cat-Teen
Summary: A team of teenage heroes from Gotham City arrive to lend a hand, but the leader of the Triquetra shares dark secrets with Robin, and the darkness of the past cannot stay hidden for long... first in Triquetra Series - completed
1. Arrivals

1

Usually on a Saturday morning, Titans Tower was still what remained of Friday night, and noone except Starfire would be making any effort to tidy it. But this Saturday was somewhat different. There were no pizza boxes, no empty video cases. In fact, it was... clean. Raven sat coiled on the couch, lost in her usual existential reading, choosing not to acknowledge the entrance of Robin and Cyborg. If the last fortnight had been anything to go by, she already knew what they were fighting about.

"I still don't see why we need new recruits!" Cyborg shouted heatedly.

"For the last time Cyborg," Robin replied, ever calm and collected. "They are _not_ recruits. It's an old friend from Gotham and her crew helping with the whole Slade issue. It won't be for long."

But Cyborg's attentions had switched by now. "_Her_? You neglected to mention before that the 'old friend' was a female."

"Believe it or not Cyborg," Raven interjected, "We do live on this planet too."

"That's not what I meant. How do you know this female?"

"We grew up together," Robin explained, growing shy and vague. "But there were... uh, differences. We haven't been in contact for a while."

"Break-up," Cyborg and Raven said flatly, in unison.

"Hardly."

As he walked away, Cyborg leaned down towards the indifferent Raven. "So, uh, who's going to tell Starfire about this chick?"

Meanwhile, over in Gotham City, a slight teenager named Teleka was trying to explain exactly the same thing to Venom and Blue Moon, her own team of teenage heroes. "It was never a break-up, because there was never anything to break," she said loudly and clearly, as though speaking to two slow-witted children. But even the veiled Blue could hear the note of sadness on her voice. Telly, as she was known for short, would never wish any harm on either of them, but sometimes she wished her friends wouldn't ask so many questions.

Teleka, as her name suggested, was strongly telekinetic and telepathic, with black hair laced with bright red. Slowly, the colour theme had spread to her clothes, throwing her into what was very much coordinated, superhero style. Blue Moon dressed in flowing silver and blue silks and layered veils and spoke with a contrasting, broad cockney accent. She could fly and move at tremendous speeds when needed, though her main power was the ability to know whether or not someone was lying. Venom was the only male member of the group, poisonous in more ways than one. Armed with fangs and toxin, on top of ruggedly good, Hispanic looks for his age, he was a dark, silent type, but with a great sense of humour.

"Nothing to break, huh?" Venom threw in. "So how come that's your best costume?" Telly merely glared at him with iced-over eyes. Even to someone as tough as Venom, that stare could be deadly if endured for too long. She didn't need superpowers to accomplish that. The truth was, her training was what had separated her from Robin. Her mistress had been his trainer's archenemy. Losing her had been like losing her shackles. Their group, the Triquetra, had only been formed then, and Teleka had never looked back at her past. Until now...

Of course, joining up with the Titans was strictly business. They shared a common enemy in Slade, a mysterious Overlord who it seemed none could reach, not even his own apprentices. So rather than have him split his efforts between the two cities, they were joining up in order to focus him in one place. Hopefully, to make him easier to catch. And yet, Teleka couldn't help thinking a personal spin-off would be a welcome addition. Had she known what was to come, who she would fight, that might have been the least of her worries.

Robin watched impatiently for their arrival from the huge front window of the Titans T-shaped headquarters. What was taking so long? He was so tense, he almost jumped a foot in the air when Beast Boy tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uh... Robin? They're not due for another two hours. Relax, eat, _act normally_..."

"I'd rather not."

"Oh," Beast Boy said conspiratorially. "I get it. Cyborg told me about your _girlfriend..._ So what happened?"

"First off, she was never my girlfriend. We were just kids. Secondly, nothing."

"Right. That's why you just can't wait for her and her crew to get here." The sarcasm had been a step too far, and from one raised eyebrow, Beast Boy got the message. _Drop it..._ "So who exactly are they?"

"The group call themselves the Triquetra. There's Blue Moon, Venom and Teleka."

Raven glanced away from her reading, suddenly interested for once. "Teleka isn't by any chance telekinetic and telepathic, is she?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I know her. From a while back. She was one of very few who found a path to Azarath. She's OK, except for the whole-" She cut off quickly, at Robin waving frantically and rapidly changed the subject. "Where's Starfire anyway?"

"Still in bed," Cyborg answered, jerking his thumb in the right direction, without even turning away from the Gamestation. "It's not like her."

"I'll wake her up," Robin offered uneasily. There was a certain danger to waking Starfire, as he had come very close to finding out the morning before. Star's alarm clock, hurled by a bolt of energy, had crashed straight through the doors of their adjacent rooms, almost taking his head off. He walked slowly out of the room and timidly pulled Star's damaged door open via the gaping hole at its centre. But Starfire wasn't sleeping. Instead she was wandering around her highly decorated room, an oasis of mess in what she otherwise kept tidy. The room was full to bursting with thousands of little trinkets from earth, from simple leaves and rocks to posters and photographs of the Titans. No surface was clear of ordinary but precious charms. On the unmade bed, Star's fabled, but completely private scrapbook lay open with new photographs sticking to its pages.

"Deciding what to put in?" Robin asked nonchalantly, running the tips of his fingers over the worn pages.

"Oh!" Starfire yelped in surprise and slammed the book shut, ignoring the glue that was seeping from between the pages onto her bed. "No, I was... um, just looking at it. So many pretty things from Earth. And many more good memories..." Her last sentence trailed off, and she turned away, arms folded across her chest.

"Can I see?" Robin chanced, already knowing the answer. Noone had ever seen past the first few pages. Clearly it had become more of a diary than a scrapbook. Star shook her head violently and slid the beaten book under the bed, wondering to herself how she would ever find it under there. "What's up? Why aren't you hanging out with the others?"

"I will, it's just that... Robin, I have never told anyone this but it will not be long before I will have to return to Tamaran. Back home. But I do not want to go. I wish to stay on Earth and learn everything. There is not enough time." One single tear slid down each cheek she choked on her words and fell back onto the bed, completely hopeless. She sat with her back against the wall and more tears began to follow the still wet tracks. "I like it here," was all she could manage to say.

"There has to be a way around that," Robin said, completely shell-shocked and sitting down beside her.

"No, there is not. Because of my age, it would be against Tamaran law for me to stay any longer. They will come for me."

"We'll find a way. You won't have to go home, Star, not if you don't want to."

Star looked up at him weakly, eyes shining like glass with tears. Starfire's whole form had the look of glass; small and lithe, and as though if you pushed her over she would shatter into a hundred pieces. "Do you promise, Robin?"

"I promise," he replied solemnly, intending to stick to his word. "Come on. Last I heard, Raven was going to kill Beast Boy for breaking her favourite gemstone."

But meanwhile, Beast Boy and Cyborg were having a rather heated conversation over the relationship between Robin and 'this Teleka chick.'

"First crush?" Beast Boy suggested.

"No, that was Pamela Islely."

"Partner in crime... fighting?

"No. What would have caused the rift? And he had Batgirl anyway."

"How do you know all this, man? Is Robin like, your specialist subject or something?"

"No, he's my best friend..."

"Oh, and I guess I'm just the joker who walked into the gang. Thanks Cy!" And so it continued, flickering between spats and brainstorms. Until of course they realized Robin and Starfire were standing at the door, looking ever so slightly confused.

"Someone else knock," Telly muttered, stepping back from the door of Titans Tower for the seventh time.

"Oh for Gotham's sake!" Venom said, storming straight up and rapping loudly on the steel plate.

"And you expect us to believe-" Blue Moon added playfully, but caught the frozen glance Teleka shot at her and backed off, raising her hands in surrender.

"No answer," Venom reported. Blue took off upwards, searching for any sign of life inside the building, eventually finding the Titans on the top floor.

"Hey!" she shouted down. "It looks just like Saturday at our place!"

"Blue, get them to let us in already," Telly snapped, shivering slightly in the winter air. Her 'best costume', as it had been called, was only held by red leather belts across her shoulders, and not exactly winter gear. Blue tapped lightly at the window, then harder and eventually attracted some attention. Waving briefly, she fluttered down again, missing the animated conversation inside.

"Well," Cyborg prompted slyly, "Aren't you going to let her in, _Robin_?"

"What's wrong with your mechanical legs?"

"Well, if you feel that strongly... Star, Rave, go let them in. Please?" With a nod the two hovered on down, and somehow, Beast Boy became scarce too. "So what's the deal with you and this Teleka chick? It's like you're _afraid_ to meet her."

"Unresolved conflicts. She's got a past."

"One that used to include you? And now, it's been so long you don't know what to expect, because she could have badly changed, for the worse. Am I right?"

"Something like that, yeah." His gaze was drawn to the familiar red and black where Teleka sat on her tiny suitcase in the cold. Her outfit had changed anyway. She'd hated the old one that she'd been made to wear for so many years. Something was confusing Robin. This was one of the people in the world he had once been obligated to hate, and vice versa. And then again, there had been a time when they were inseparable. Somehow, a lot of things can change, in not a lot of time. Now, though, was strictly business and nothing more. All they had in common, so far as he knew, was a goal, and an achievable one. So that would just have to be the first priority.

The door began to swing open, and Teleka took a deep breath, not knowing what to expect, but realizing she had to be strong for her team. The one thing she expected to see least in the world was Raven. "Rae? Oh my god, is that you?"

"No, I'm Raven's evil twin," came the sarcastic reply, but this only served to make Telly surer.

"How long has it been? I had no idea you were in the dimension or I'd have called in."

"Plenty of time for all this inside, where it's warmer. This is Starfire, by the way." Star moved forward and waved happily.

"Hey, Star," Telly replied easily. "I'm Teleka and this is Venom and Blue Moon. And with the formalities done with can we please go inside? It's sub-zero out here!"

"They're on their way Robin," Cyborg reported, watching from the window. "Keep it together, man," he encouraged, placing a heavy, solid hand on his friends shoulder. –Somehow he got the impression that something about this girl was scaring him more than any villain they'd ever faced together. "You sure you don't want to tell me what's so special about this chick?"

"Positive." It was just the same second that Star and Raven led the new arrivals into the room and, just as mysteriously as he had gone, Beast Boy reappeared. "Teleka," Robin said weakly, faltering for once. "Or is it still C-?"

"Don't. I mean, no. Just Telly. What about you?"

"Same as always. I didn't change my name."

"Am I missing something here?" asked both Beast Boy and Venom in unison.

"No," Telly replied sadly. "It's history."

"So this is Titans Tower, huh? Not bad, not bad at all!" Blue Moon said cheerfully, trying desperately to change the subject. Her eye caught on the huge television screen that covered one wall and slowly rose to the top. "That is amazing. Ours isn't that size."

Starfire floated happily over beside her, bobbing slightly in the air. "I agree. It is huge, but I do not get to watch some of the interesting programs your planet has to offer. There is usually a video game being played."

"As in Gamestation? Oh well, I guess I didn't need to pack mine," Blue murmured, jerking her thumb towards her backpack. She was about to continue when she was jerked out of the air by Cyborg and Beast Boy both tearing at the pack.

"Are those the new fingerprint reading, always-remember-your-name-and-call-you-by-it controllers? How did you get these?" Cyborg exclaimed.

"They're the prototypes. I'm on the tester list. I try things like this out, evaluate them and sometimes things get put on the shelves."

"Oh, man, Cyborg. We have got to get ourselves on that list!"

"I'll see what I can do." Blue laughed. "But if that impressed you, maybe you should check this out." She pulled a game cartridge out of the bag and passed it to him nonchalantly, before returning to her conversation with Starfire.

Teleka however, was not feeling so immediately comfortable. She had lied before when she had said she didn't know Raven was here. If it weren't for Raven, she wouldn't have come. She was the only other person who knew anything of her past. Now that she was here, she wasn't so sure it had been a good idea. Because she, Robin and Raven shared a secret that they couldn't even talk about, something was terribly uncomfortable.

"So Rae, what's been happening these like, what is it, four years?"

"Well, I finally got tired of my father and left Azarath, and I ended up here. It hasn't exactly been boring, but it hasn't been anything special either." Telly merely nodded, remembering ruefully that her friend had never fully promoted conversation. Venom sauntered over in his usual confident, easy style. Raven's mouth dropped slightly open as he casually said hey and walked on to inspect Beast Boy's CD collection. With a strange look in her eyes that Telly had never seen before she followed closely, leaving Teleka on her own with Robin. The one moment she'd been dreading.

"Listen," they said in unison, after a few seconds silence.

"No, you first," Robin continued.

"Right. Robin, that night, when I was running, did you hear me?" Teleka spoke quickly and nervously, and barely paused to acknowledge Robin's nod. "Well, I said it then and I'll say it now, I'm sorry, but..."

"But she would have killed you, I know. It doesn't matter anymore. Like you said, it's history."

"Good. That's good, because I just had to get that out of the way because, y'know... I'll never forgive myself for what I did that night."

"Well, now that's out of the way. How'd you get out of it?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Her eyes slid over to the huge cinema screen and a tiny, slick smile ghosted her face. "She gave them my program. I don't believe it. It's not ready yet."

"You write Gamestation programs?" Robin asked in awe. Teleka nodded easily and walked over to inspect how her work played out.

Cyborg and Beast Boy had already started on the fighting melee game and stared open-mouthed at the choice of characters.

"Is that..."  
"Us?"

"Yep. There's pretty much every superhero I could get a picture of. Arenas like Metropolis and Gotham and of course Jump City and Titans Tower."

"You made this?" they asked together, turning to Teleka as she leaned over the back of the sofa. Again Telly merely nodded in reply. She was proud of this. It had taken her years, so why shouldn't she bask in the glory?

"Telly, I know we just met," Beast Boy asked jokingly, "But would you marry me?"

"It's a decision that would need some thought. It'd help if you let _me_ take on Cyborg." Teleka found herself pulled over onto the seat with a controller shoved in her hand. "Hope you're ready to take the fall, boy."

"Listen little lady. I am as yet unbeaten at most video games in my possession. I _am_ the one and only master of the Gamestation."

"Then this should be very interesting," Telly replied selecting her own picture and watching it swoop on screen. Ten minutes later, both of the players were still next to full health. The rest, whether Triquetra or Titan had fallen into respectful silence, knowing it would simply be a case of who made the first mistake. Finally it came to Cyborg locked against the side of the screen, pummelling but not realizing why Teleka wasn't fighting back. Not until the pillar she had been manoeuvring around the screen was right over the projection's head. "Say goodnight," she quipped, satiated, before dropping the stone and zooming to the other side of the screen.

"G'night," murmured a shell-shocked Cyborg. "Did you just... beat me? You had to be cheating. You made the game for Gotham's sake."

"You're just a sore loser, and I've always been a winner at heart," she smirked, but her smile faded into nothing with Robin's contemptuous snort. "So much for history," she muttered, before returning to her place as champion and asking for another challenger.


	2. Chocolate Chips and Dying Secrets

2

"He picks his moments, doesn't he? My God, that man must have serious insomnia to have the strength to terrorize the world at three a.m." Blue Moon seethed, referring to Slade as the alarm began to sound in the middle of the night. Teleka didn't complain, as she couldn't sleep anyway. She had too much on her mind to sleep without nightmares. There was a nagging feeling in her head that something was about to go very, very wrong in her life. Being telepathic, she had learned to live on her instincts.

"Quit whining and let's go, Blue. Isn't this supposed to be your time of day anyway?"

"Technically, yes. In reality, no."

They entered the main living room to find Venom and the Titans were already there, impatiently waiting to move out. "Where is he?" Teleka asked, suddenly business like. "Blue and I'll go ahead and scout it out."

"Right. There's been a random attack downtown," Robin replied hastily to her, itching to move out into the fight.

"Wait a second, Bird Boy. Random attacks usually mean traps. You sure we want to walk into it?"

"There are innocents caught in the crossfire. If it's a trap, we'll get out of it."

Teleka merely shrugged off his slightly-too-serious attitude, opening the window and placing one foot on the ledge to kick off. "Your city, your call. But I want to go on record now as saying I don't like this." She took off, hovering outside and waiting for Blue to accompany her. "Oh, and uh, Beast Boy? You might want to get changed. The pyjama look is so five minutes ago. Like, when we were all asleep?"

Shaking sleep away from him, Beast Boy looked down at his green stripy pyjamas, and raced away, appearing milliseconds later in full costume. "I hate to be awake any time between the hours of midnight and midday. That's my only explanation."

Blue Moon and Teleka soared along at a comfortable pace in silence for a while, but Teleka didn't need her telepathy to know what question was coming as soon as Blue Moon got the nerve up.

"Nothing," she said, hearing the deep intake of breath next to her. "Robin and I grew up together. Then I... moved away."

"The last bit was only half the truth."

"Yeah, well, suppose I'm ashamed of the other half and don't want to talk about it

"Then I wouldn't ask and move onto the next question. Why do you think he should hate you?"

"I don't."

"Yeah, right. Telly, I know you're the telepathic one, but believe it or not, intuition comes with the whole moon-worship gig."

"Because... Listen Blue; I do _not_ want to talk about this. It's history. By the way you just flew straight over our scene." Blue Moon looked back at where Teleka was patiently hovering in the air, a slick, false smirk on her face. "You do a swoop, I'll land and see what I can find out."

Teleka dropped quickly to the ground, in a side-street leading onto a square she was sure could be beautiful, but just then was a pinnacle of chaos. Several things stood out to her immediately: the presence of a single figure that everyone seemed to be running from, and something that frightened her even more.

"Tom!" she gasped, tears beginning to well in her eyes. Her eyes became pure crimson pools as her powers began to take effect. The figure at the centre of the bedlam carried a shining silver katana, pretty much as long as his own body, but within seconds the blood-red light had spread to that too. The few stragglers left in the square put on a last burst of speed at the distraction, giving Teleka her first clear view of the enemy. His jet-black hair and eyes confirmed her fears. She mentally yanked the sword out of his grasp and raised it high into the air, signalling to Blue Moon to stay back for a minute.

Her friend caught the flare and dived toward the Teen Mobile as it approached the square. Landing awkwardly on the bonnet, the car screeched to a halt. Blue clambered to her knees and leaned in the driver's side window. "Give Telly a minute here. She just got one hell of a shock," she muttered before proceeding to explain the situation. The cause of the disturbance, aside from Slade's latest apprentice, was Teleka's younger brother.

"Thomas J. Prentiss Maguire, what the hell do you think you are doing terrorizing innocent people and, may I add, waking up decent hard-working heroes, in the middle of the night?" Teleka shouted like a mother hen from her corner.

"Telly? Where're you hiding, sis?" he called malevolently, in no way like the Tom she knew.

"You're the one hiding. Behind that goddamn orange mask." She brought the sword down into her hand and stepped out into the light. "I gave you this," she said, hefting the silver weight between her hands, "When I decided I didn't need weapons. Why are you doing this?"

"Just following your example. I heard younger siblings tend to do that sometimes."

"Oh, please, don't even try to pull this!! Trust me bro, my example is not the one to follow. I wasn't given a choice. You can choose what you want to do."

"I did! And I'm enjoying myself. You don't know what it's like when your sister's the big hero all the time. As soon as people find out they forget about me and ask for an introduction."

"Damn, I leave my sad music tape in my other costume the one night I need it. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get out of this while you can, Tom

"Why? I'm enjoying the attention." He fired some sort of blast off from his wrist, but Teleka, reflexes honed from years of dodging attacks, lifted up the old fashioned sword and deflected the beam into the sky. "Especially from the sister who abandoned me."

"Don't you listen? I had no choice!" Teleka screamed, completely infuriated by his childish ignorance. "But I guess it's once an annoying brat, always an annoying brat with you, huh Tom?"

"Call me Swipe. That's what _he_ calls me."

"Ooh, catchy," she muttered sarcastically. "But fine then, _Swipe_. I have had enough of my past without you reliving my mistakes. And knowing you, you'll be too proud to admit them. You'll be stuck."

"At least I know what I want to be," he replied sourly, jabbing at her with finality that said he had chosen his path.

Having seen the bolt in the sky and heard Teleka's screaming, the Titans and remaining members of the Triquetra had come to her aid, just as she had begun to lose the fight. Her hand fell limp and the sword clattered to the ground. For a minute she stood silent, in shock, trying to absorb the knowledge that her brother had officially gone over to the dark side. Her eyes fluttered open, pure red again, and Swipe floated up into the air in the red glow. "Go," she said simply. "Don't come back." She dropped him onto a rooftop and turned away.

"I don't make promises I can't keep, Telly." With that, he disappeared away into the night and Teleka finally released a long, slow breath. But not everyone was relieved. Robin, for one, grabbed her shoulders, shaking her as though trying to snap her out of a trance.

"What do you think you're doing letting him go? He needs to be apprehended."

Teleka wrenched his hands away and stood back, trying (and failing) to not get too angry. "He is my brother-"

"That's no excuse!"

"Would you just let me finish? Because I'm telepathic, and we're related, I have a connection with him. He might lead us to Slade." Teleka was running out of steam, dropping her head and disabling her powers. She had only just created the plan. The fact that he was a relation _had_ been her excuse. "I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea."

"No it wasn't," Raven said hovering with the others, at least a foot or two away from her.

"I agree. Your idea is good Telly. It is good to have a direct link to Slade." Starfire was being her usual optimistic self, trying to lighten the situation by summing it up in a way that made everyone feel good.

"Yeah, yeah. Can we go home now? I'm tired," Beast Boy yawned.

Later that night, or to be technical, morning, Teleka walked barefoot out into the main room. She couldn't sleep with so many revelations in her head. She walked in to the kitchen and jumped into a tense hover when she found she wasn't alone. Raven sat in front of her at the counter, spoon set deep into a tub of ice cream. "Not sleeping?" Raven asked blandly.

"I'm awake, aren't I?" Teleka replied dryly, gratefully accepting the spoon being offered and scooping it full of triple chocolate. "Too much in my head."

"Ever tried meditating?"

"Every night, but don't tell me you've never felt like there are some things you can't push away."

"What your brother's doing isn't your fault, you know."

"So how come I feel incurably like it is? He said he was following my example..."

"...Which is ridiculous because you're a good guy now. Anyway, in my experience, chocolate can sometimes be the key to push it all away. Just don't tell Starfire I was at her tub."

"I never had you down as a believer in alternative-alternative therapy. But I can see your reasoning for the chocolate. So what has you up?"

"The same incurable feeling that something is really wrong."

"And love." Teleka smiled, disguising the controversial words with a cough.

"No!"

"Now you see, if you really weren't, you would have ignored that, so you see, I was right. And yes, Venom's unattached."

"I don't know what you mean," Raven replied, feigning confusion, but the slight blush in her cheeks said otherwise. "So are you really going to try and read Tom over this distance?"

"Yeah, but I figure I'll fake it for a few days. I just, need a bit to recover, y'know?"

"I know what you mean there, now. But one thing's puzzling me. If Tom said he was following your example, but he's _Slade's_ apprentice..." Teleka nodded quickly, turning away and hanging her head in shame. "Oh my God," Raven muttered quietly.

"You can't tell anyone Rae. Noone else knows and I want it to stay like that. I'm not proud of some of the things I've done, and that's one of my secrets. It's just that you figured it out. I was never given a choice with either apprenticeship, and some things are hard to let go of." She placed both hands flat on the counter, showing her pointed silver nails now that she was minus her leather gloves, "Those were from her, and this," she continued, raising her short sleeve to reveal a faded red brand shaped like a jagged S, "was from him."

"How come Robin doesn't have one of those?"

"Robin?"

"Oops. You didn't know?"

"Obviously not. And he has the nerve; no scratch that, the _courage_ to lecture me? Just let him try!"

"No!" Raven said loudly. "You can't tell anyone that I told you. Big Titan secret."

"I'll keep yours, if you'll keep mine."

"Why don't we just pretend tonight never happened?" Raven suggested, digging her spoon into the tub again, but finding all she hit was the bottom. "Star's going to kill me."

"She could always kill someone else..." Teleka smiled slyly, eyeing the chocolate residue on her own spoon.

"WHO ATE MY ICE CREAM?!?" Starfire yelled the next morning, so angry you could almost see the steam spouting from her ears. Raven and Teleka looked at each other, sharing mortified smiles before turning back to their books. Someone else would probably take the blame, and noone would be spared. Both pairs of eyes grew even wider when Beast Boy, their unspoken saviour emerged from his bedroom... face covered in Teleka's chocolate brown smudges.

"Beast Boy," Star murmured dangerously. "I demand to know if you ate my ice cream."

"No!"

"Then how can you explain the triple chocolate smudges on your face?"

"Isn't it a little early to think of ice cream, Star? It's nine-thirty!" Starfire simply turned away, her nose as far in the air as it could go. Beast Boy crashed out on the sofa, twirling a finger around his ear, closely followed by Venom and Blue Moon who had just entered. Raven immediately buried her face in the horror novel she was reading, but only to disguise her puce façade.

"Good morning, people," Venom said cheerfully. Teleka and Blue knew from experience his morning happiness had worn off by the time the day had actually started.

"Hi," Raven muttered in a tiny voice, only glimpsing around the edge on the book for a second.

Beast Boy shared a look with Venom, who was about to collapse into laughter. "Hey! I bet I could beat you in a fight any day."

"_Sure_ you could. I know how to prove you wrong. Teleka?"

Telly pulled the Gamestation program from the messy table beside her and threw it casually in their direction. "Knock yourselves out, kids." Once rid, she turned to Raven, smiling widely, and was about to start teasing her, when suddenly her smile faded. She returned to her book, avoiding Robin's masked eyes as he and Cyborg entered the room.

"You need to talk to him," Raven whispered.

'I know, but I can't face it,' Teleka sent back telepathically. From here on in she was just really reading Raven's thoughts.

'You'll have to sometime. Stop putting it off and get it over with.'

'You're right... Later.'

'Telly...'

'No, I will, I really will, I promise... if he brings it up.'

'This isn't healthy, you know.'

'Later!!!'

"Robin, you have to talk to her. Give her the chance to explain why she did the things she did. She's too taken up with apologising. You have to give her the chance."

"Suppose she doesn't want the chance? Suppose she's proud of it?"

"She's not." The voice had been Blue Moon, who had secretly heard the conversation and now entered the quiet kitchen to fetch sodas for herself and everyone else. "The one thing I can never get her to talk about is her dark, mysterious past because she's too ashamed to admit to any of it. Just thought that might help."

She exited as coolly as she had come in, and Raven turned a satisfied glance to Robin. "I rest _that_ case."

"Ok, ok, I'll talk to her. Later."

That afternoon, Teleka lay on her bed in one of Titan Tower's many spare rooms, scribbling frantically in her diary. Reflexively she slammed it shut when the door began to slide open. 'Come in,' she thought sarcastically, but all her toughness fell away when she saw that it was Robin entering. "Hey," she said weakly, sliding the diary back under her pillow with one hand. If anyone ever saw what was inside that for these last few weeks, she would have trouble keeping her secrets secret.

"Hey," he replied, equally nervous. Seeing each other brought back good and bad memories for both of them. "Listen, do you, uh, want to go out for pizza or something?"

"Pizza is good, yeah. But wouldn't food kinda be a little distracting? If Raven said to you what she said to me, you _really_ want to talk."

"Pretty much. Want to go down by the harbour instead?"

"Sounds good to me."

Teleka sat on the tiny wooden jetty; sticking out of an island near the one Titan Tower was placed on. It was freezing out here, but the cold wasn't the reason she was so tense. "So, what do you want to know?"

"The truth. And not just the parts you want me to hear, all the gory details."

"I'm amazed a busy crime fighter like you has the next century free in his date-book," Teleka snorted. "I don't even know where to start."

"Start with why you joined up with her," Robin suggested contemptuously, referring to her first mistress.

"Ooh, easy question. Death threat, plus the fact that I had no idea how evil she was."

"Why did you stay when you found out?" And so the conversation went on, with Robin asking questions and Teleka giving the most truthful answers she could bear to give. After a little while, she got sick of twisting the truth and threw out everything she had. It was as if she were dishing the dirt on someone else and not herself. Eventually, every little detail about her past had escaped. Except of course the insignificant little matter of Slade, but it seemed Robin had figured that out for himself.

Rolling up her long sleeve with one hand, he placed the other over the symbol. "And what about this?"

"I don't want to talk about that. Just like you don't want to talk about Red X and something so closely related to that symbol it's scary."

"How do you know about that?"

"When you lived in Gotham, you knew what was going on on this side of town. Do you think I'm blind, deaf and utterly ignorant?"

"Both those times were totally different. I did it to protect my friends."

"And I did it because any other choice would be suicide, 'k? Is that all right by you? It's not as if I need the green light from you to live my life! Because no matter how you look at it, nobody forced you to hate me, except yourself. You control-freak, bossy, hothead, selfish, annoying pig!!! " Teleka was beginning to break down, letting go of walls and feelings that she had held in place for years through sheer will power. "Something's telling me you still do." With tears streaming behind her like rain, Teleka took off into the sunset, not knowing where she was going, or what she planned to do, except that she had to get away.

"Teleka, wait!" Robin was utterly confused. What had he said to turn her fragile mood back into the tough walls she usually held up?

"I'm sorry," she muttered, turning in mid-air, knowing this exact moment was a grim reminder for both of them, of one night that seemed so long ago. When, contrary to all her beliefs, Teleka had done the one thing she had sworn never to do. But that's another story...

"Deja vu all over again," Robin said to himself, remembering what had first caused all the tension between them. _That_ night...


	3. CatGirl Flashbacks

3

Teleka glared out across the city towards the somewhat hexed effigy of Titans Tower in the distance. Tears blurred her vision, but the constant replay of _that_ scene in her head, the worst night of her life, was clearer than ever.

_It had almost been so easy. If she'd been just five minutes late, it would have been perfect. But she should have known better. Her life could never have been described as easy. It had been a simple cat-burglary, back in the days when she was better known as Cat-girl, and everything went smoothly, until her exit. Always a grand finale, but that night, she'd been given more than she could handle. Standing at the edge of the rooftop, she fastened a long rope securely to her belt, preparing to swing to the building just across the street, her last port of call. And the one she had been dreading the most._

_Her swing through the air was graceful and effortless, like a diver who could suddenly change direction. Unclipping the rope in the air, she somersaulted to the roof and grabbed the edge. And all that time, she worked in utter silence. Taking a deep breath, Teleka walked towards the skylight, staying low to avoid notice, but also avoiding the stern glare of the neon lettering: _WayneEnterprises. _She tried to tell herself this was just another part of her nightly routine. 'Train all day, work all night, sleep whenever you get five minutes,' she muttered inwardly, recalling the words of her mistress from not so long ago. _

_Pulling up to the glass skylight, she pulled a long metallic instrument from the sleeve of her dark catsuit. Placing the central, needle-like point between the fingers of her gloves, she gently held it into the glass and set the other half moving. A tiny red beam sliced straight through the window. The cut-away circle began to tumble into the room below, but she snatched it back with her powers with milliseconds to spare. The hole was only just large enough for her to drop herself inside and flip towards the web of security beams below. Closing her eyes in fear of even a slightly wrong landing, she executed her moves perfectly, balancing on the very tip of one toe on top of a Perspex display case. Swinging from the doorframe, the living shadow threw herself out of the room and into the hallway. She made her way to the heart of the complex, thus far managing to forget who could be just around the corner..._

_She passed a guard office, sliding along underneath the window in the door. Laughter from inside froze the blood in her veins. Familiar laughter; laughter she had shared..._

'_Robin,' she whispered, breaking her vow of silence for the first time._

'_Concentrate, girl,' snapped her mistress' purring voice in her earpiece. 'You are forgetting I can see and hear everything you do.'_

_Teleka moved on down the hallway, wishing desperately she could stay, just watch him for a minute. Having fun..._

__

_Not long later, she was about to make her grand exit, stolen technology clipped to her belt. Again, the feeling that things wouldn't go to plan hung around her like a shadow. She stole round the corner at the front of the building resisting the urge to scale the drainpipe and, just for the minute she desired so much, to see him again. Telly got her wish._

_As she gently gazed up to the lit building for a second another shadow came up behind her. 'Give it back, and I'll let you go'. Drawing a long katana from its place flat against her back, she held back her captor telekinetically and spun, stopping the blade millimetres from his throat. 'Teleka?'_

'_Damn straight, Boy Wonder,' she replied, trying to keep her voice devoid of emotion, but desperately gesturing to the earpiece. Robin however, just wasn't taking the hint. 'And I think you'll find," she whispered softly, pressing the blade to the flesh of his neck, just enough to make him hold his breath, 'that I was the one who got away." She began to walk, not letting her concentration on him slip for a second. But you'll find words can sometimes be a nice trigger to kill your concentration._

"_What are you doing? You're the Cat-girl? I can get you out of this." He sounded confused, and in a way, almost disappointed. Telly bit down hard on her lip to prevent herself from crying, and her ward dropped for a second. In a blur of action, each drew their preferred weapons. 'Don't do this, Telly.'_

_Pretending to brush her hair back with her free hand, she tried to draw his attention yet again to her earpiece. 'Stop giving him hints," hissed the ever-present voice in her ear, 'the poor boy's too dense to realize.'_

'_Don't make me,' she replied sadly, disappointed that he didn't know why she was doing this. _

_In a single tiny moment, the air snapped with tension and what was to be a short, decisive fight began. Grabbing her wrist, Robin swung Teleka around in front of him so his bo-staff crossed her chest. Finally, he noticed the clear plastic earpiece she had tried so hard to show him. In a weak moment, Telly slid out, using the momentum to flip up and over his head so as the same weapon was choking him._

'_Take your chances,' came the hiss in her ear. 'Use the charge.'_

'_I won't do it...' Teleka whispered hopelessly as, drawing her katana again, she sliced the stick in half and tossed both parts across the road._

'_Then either he will kill you, or I will.' Teleka looked away sadly, if only for a second, then decided what she would have to do. The charges her mistress was talking about were minor explosives. They wouldn't cause a huge disturbance, but they would be enough to say, take one old friend out._

'_Robin... Run!" she mouthed urgently, dropping the small bomb and taking off in one direction, ensuring she gave him the time to get away before she hit the detonator. In the quiet street, in the dead of night, the blast was deafening. Robin searched through the smoke, searching for her as she slowly rose up into the velvety black sky. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, knowing as she did so that she was incurring a punishment at her so-called home._

__

'_What did you think you were doing?" the mistress said, circling her like the predatory animal she was._

'_Didn't the explosives work?' Teleka murmured, trying to sound convincing._

"_You think I don't know what you did! Your past is of no meaning to me. Now that you are here you will obey my rules. I have only one rule: You do as I command, when I command it. Is that clear?"_

"_Yes. I'm sorry." Teleka kept her chin up, proudly staring straight ahead, fully in anticipation of what was to come. Four savage slashes opened across her face, but she didn't even feel the pain. It came too often to have a meaning. Trickles of blood slid over her face, leaving a metallic taste in her mouth and a desire to retaliate in her heart, but she knew better. She would be killed._

_She was left alone, standing just outside a single shaft of light in the darkness. Looking up to the source of the light, Teleka realized it wasn't just another garish neon, but a window high on the wall. How had it escaped her notice for so long? Grabbing her long leather coat, she flung it around her shoulders and took a run to the wall, beginning to glide softly as she went. Mentally she yanked the metal grille covering her exit away. She didn't dare even think of what might happen to her if she was found out. Finding it came easily into her hands, she remembered exactly how powerful she was. For so long her powers had been repressed, forcing her to concentrate more on agility and skill, but why shouldn't she use something that was rightfully hers? She floated through the now open window into the dark, crime-ridden streets of the city, knowing exactly where she was going._

_Behind her, the mistress smiled softly, like the cat with the cream, and opened a small communicator. "She's passed all your unnecessary little tests. When should I ship her out?"_

_The half-shadowed, half-masked face at the other end seemed to tilt slightly, obviously pleased. "As soon as possible." _

__

_Teleka hung upside-down at the window, coat fluttering and snapping in the wind at her back. Inside, in the warmth and light of the manor house, was Robin, looking perfectly at home, if slightly singed and shocked. Warmth and light were growing foreign to her. A droplet of blood slid off her forehead and stained the windowsill, followed by a single tear. That was her life; blood and tears. Warmth and light truly belonged to someone else. She'd had her minute, just seeing him again. Just knowing he had made it out unscathed made her feel slightly better, but she couldn't fully forgive herself tonight. Not any night... Robin glanced up, feeling someone's eyes on him, but saw nothing but what was maybe a discarded bag winging away on the wind..._

Back in the present, Teleka hadn't even realized tears were streaming untamed down her cheeks. She could almost feel the pain of everything that had happened all over again. She fell back against the slanted rooftop she was sitting on, letting go slightly now she was alone. But in truth, it wouldn't last so long.

"Here we are, the self-proclaimed search party, finally calling off the self-proclaimed search." That broad voice, there was only one person it could be.

"Blue?" Teleka choked, rubbing the rivers of tears off her face. "What are you doing here?"

"More to the point, what are you doing here? In case you hadn't noticed, mate, you did a runner." Raven and Starfire floated up as well, each seeming to notice the cheetah-like tear marks a little more than Blue Moon had.

"What happened?" Raven asked ruefully, almost knowing the answer.

"Yes, why do you cry?" Star asked with genuine concern.

"No reason. At least, I don't think so... I don't want to talk about it," she spluttered with a sigh, sitting up with an ever so slight red glow in her eyes.

"Well, I've never heard that one before," Blue snorted sarcastically. She wasn't expecting Teleka's harsh reaction. Her friend spun on her with the agility of a cat, holding her in the air with her powers. Eyes now triangular pools of crimson, Telly stalked forward and spun until Blue was out over the street below.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Teleka shouted, her voice strangely dangerous. She was acting completely out of character.

"Nothing! Can you, uh, put me down now? Only not here, because I know I can fly and all, but there's something scary about plummeting straight towards the ground." Blue shuddered in Teleka's vice-like mental grip. She was petrified, but Teleka only laughed.

All of a sudden, the laughter ceased and one whispered word escaped her mouth; "No." The glow faded and she fell back, flashes still tracing across her eyes. "Don't let this happen," she told herself inwardly. Noone even realized Blue Moon had fallen until she clambered over the edge onto the rooftop, clearing her throat loudly. Teleka squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the power to leave her, but as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't want to. She had been suppressing her anger for years, and releasing it had made her feel better than she had in a long time. 'Save it for Slade,' she told herself, 'Don't throw it at your friends.'

"What just happened?" Starfire asked worriedly, helping her to her feet.

"Well, I don't know but I think I'm owed a bloody apology!" Blue ranted pointlessly. Raven, however, had witnessed this happen to Teleka before. She knew exactly what had caused it.

"It happens when I think of my past. It's an emotional thing," Telly began to explain, but her eyes were half-closed. Suddenly, she was utterly exhausted. "Now do you understand why I never want to talk about it? I'll be fine, I just... need a minute."

"More like a couple of hours mate and a good night's kip! Come back."

"I... I can't face it. You guys go on, I'll be fine, really."

"No, you must come," Starfire said, trying to pull Teleka up. "I suggest you use the window and stay in your room until you are ready to 'face it.'"

"Star's right," Raven agreed. "You shouldn't be on your own when this is happening to you." Teleka simply nodded and hovered up slightly, fighting to keep control of her powers, knowing they would eventually take over.

"You," Blue fumed angrily, storming into the main room and pointing an accusatory finger at Robin. "I want a word with you." She roughly grabbed him by the front of his uniform and tugged him behind her into the security of the kitchen. "What in bloody hell did you say to her? Do you know how bloody scary it is when you are plummeting to the ground after being suspended in midair by your best friend, even if you can fly? Do you have any idea!"

"I think what Blue means is Teleka's pretty upset over something. Possibly something that came up when you were talking?" Raven explained as both she and Starfire followed them in.

"So what? She didn't tell me anything she didn't want to."

"She didn't _want _to tell you any of it, Robin, but she did. She didn't bring up anything, uh, unexpected did she? Or was it you who had her sleeve up to her shoulder?" Raven had tried to be subtle about the Slade topic, but now she found there was no other way to say it. Robin's mouth fell open. This was one situation that couldn't be ignored; especially now he was cornered by three of Teleka's very angry friends in a room full of sharp utensils.

"All I'm saying is how do we know where her loyalties are? She doesn't exactly have a clean record. I just think we should be sure of her trust before we go after Slade. She flew off the handle tonight at the first mention-" It was only then he noticed three pairs of smouldering eyes on him and stopped abruptly. But each of them held their own doubts now, whether confusion over the topic or realization that maybe Robin was right. It's just that noone would say anything out loud.

"Try telling Teleka that," Starfire replied sadly, drifting slowly away.

"Go away!" Telly cried, hurling whatever was handy at the door. Robin had taken refuge behind the steel plate shouting around the corner to avoid the constant barrage.

"Teleka, five minutes. Really, that's all I'm asking." The constant banging on the back of the door ceased, if only for a second, and he risked a glance into the room. Teleka hovered slightly above the bed, cross-legged and with eyes that could kill. In more ways than one...

"I'm timing you," she whispered softly, giving up on anger and showing how deeply hurt she was instead. She floated down to the bed and hugged the pillow to her chest, forgetting her open diary was still below it. "Explain."

"I'm sorry..."

"Good opening. Continue."

"And if you didn't want to talk about it, I should have respected that."

"And while we're at that point, I'm sorry too because I shouldn't have flown off like that, and I should have told everyone the truth in the first place rather than have it come out like that."

"Well, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Venom still don't know."

"Yes, they do," Teleka replied with a grim smile. "I was in Blue's head and she's about to tell them any minute now." Bang on cue, Blue Moon ran down the corridor, shouting apologies to Teleka as everybody else followed behind, possibly to turn on her. Teleka slammed the door shut and floated a chair across the room and jammed it under the handle. Outside, the minor bang became a major drama.

"She's trying to kill Robin again!" Cyborg yelled and began trying to break down the door. Utter confusion ensued, but inside the room it was ignored.

"Sorry," they both apologized in unison, but seconds later Teleka had fallen back on the bed in convulsions. Red bolts of energy crackled around her and she choked slightly in pain. In explicably, a dark shadow, almost exactly identical to her began to lift out of her.

"Help!" Robin shouted, hoping someone would hear through the confusion outside.

"Oh God, no!" Cyborg continued, taking things completely the wrong way. "Hold on Robin, we're comin'!"

Robin's cry, however it was interpreted, had been unnecessary. The electricity around Teleka faded as quickly as it had come, and in seconds she was clear again, eyes glassy and dazed. "It happens sometimes. Don't tell me you forgot?" she teased, seeing his worried look. How could he have forgotten though? It was her weakness. Falling into electric seizures every so often was definitely an Achilles Heel.

"Listen, Telly," he said, reaching down to help her sit up, but no sooner did he than she slumped forward in his arms, her eyes flickering closed. Her two-tone hair fell over her face and Robin raised a hand to push it back, all the time ignoring the straining door. She really had come a long way from the lanky ten-year old he had fought so long ago. And she was really quite beautiful... "I'm sorry, "he whispered to her flushed face. Her huge dark eyes, the one part of her that ever seemed to give anything away opened slowly and a thin smile spread over her face.

"I'm sorry too. For everything..." she trailed off, sick of apologising but with a gut instinct that something quite unexpected would follow. Something very unexpected... It only took a tiny second for her to realize what it was.

He kissed her. Just like that, he leant towards her, and she returned his affection. For a second, Teleka would have given anything for the power to freeze time and make it last just that bit longer. The door was beginning to splinter, and even Raven, Blue and Star were getting worried. Telly simply lifted one hand and held the door in place. Just for a little while.

After a minute, she pulled back and looked Robin straight in those ever-masked eyes. "You _do_ know they think I'm killing you, right?"

"And?"

"Um... nothing."

Outside, however, tensions were at breaking point and something was seriously wrong with the door. Even with the combined physical efforts of Cyborg, Venom and a Ram called Beast Boy, it wouldn't give. "Ah, no. She's holding it up with her powers. What are we gonna do? Robin could be dying! What are we gonna do!!!" Cyborg panicked. Raven told him to stand back, fighting against Teleka with her own telekinesis. Whatever was happening, Teleka wasn't _really_ concentrating on the door and eventually her powers broke. Telly felt the snap and drew away, but unfortunately years of training had lost all effect. She just wasn't quick enough.

Sensing that _maybe_ they had interrupted something, the other Titans and Triquetra members backed slowly away down the hall again, attempting to look like innocent bystanders in one very cramped hallway. Beast Boy and Cyborg walked in one direction, whistling casually, though totally out of sync.

"Robin?" Telly asked sarcastically. "Have you ever seen a green ram whistling along with a _red_ and silver half-robot?"

"No, but it damn well doesn't look innocent..."

Only Starfire remained, looking slightly like a hurt puppy before Raven and Blue Moon reappeared to gently guide her away. And it was only fair to say, both Teleka and Robin's faces were the same colour as their uniforms.

"So..."

"Yeah..."

"That was five minutes anyway."

"I should go..." Both moved to leave at the same time. Turning in opposite directions, and neither going anywhere near the maniacal laughs of the others. Teleka for her part took a long route to the other arm of the T-shaped tower. She hid herself in the dark alcove that led onto the main room the current congregating area for those who wished to 'discuss the situation.'

"And she tried to pull there was nothing going on. Blue Moon is no fool. I never believed her for a minute."

"Yes you did Blue," Venom countered truthfully.

"What I don't get," Raven interrupted, "Is how does she go from crying her heart out to... _that _in the time it takes to break down a door?"

"You mean, she wasn't trying to kill him?" came Cyborg's confused voice, but pretty much everyone chose to ignore the remark. Silently, Starfire got up and left the room, barely noticed among the chaos. Again trusting her intuition, Teleka silently followed her path, creeping unseen along the wall. Not long later she found herself standing at the entrance to her makeshift room, where Starfire was gazing down at her open diary where it lay on the bed. Silently, Telly closed it over with her powers and awaited an explanation.

"Teleka!" Starfire exclaimed in surprise, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. "I was, uh, just looking for Robin..."

"But found something more interesting? Trust me, there's nothing in there that didn't come out to someone tonight. By the way, tell Raven if anyone asks questions about me now, she can tell the truth. There're no secrets for me anymore." Even though this was a complete and total invasion of her privacy, Teleka was still bright red and smiling. In truth, at the time she couldn't have cared less if the whole world knew what she had done. Even without her powers she would have been walking on air. "And as for Robin, he's in his room. As for me, I am _not_ going back in there."

She giggled softly at her own joke, but sensed the sadness in Starfire didn't give way. What had happened in roughly the last ten minutes or so to upset her so much? Returning the invasion of privacy, Teleka transported her mind into Starfire's and began to read her thoughts. Poor thing, she really was confused, but two things in particular stood out to her. One- She had very strong feelings for Robin. And Teleka had strongly hurt them. Two- She had just worked out that she would be forced to return to her own planet on Christmas Day.

The bulk of her happiness gone, Teleka pulled out of her head and fell back onto the bed with a groan, pulling the pillow over her face and screaming into it. She was blind and she was an absolute idiot. She had to make it up to her somehow, and she obviously couldn't change what had already happened. Blue had a few strings to pull out of the atmosphere... Maybe she could help.


	4. Sacrifice

4

Something bleeped on her watch. For a second, Teleka assumed it was just the hourly alarm that kept Blue Moon up every night. Then the familiar sound of her danger alarm kicked in. "Damn it," she muttered, heaving herself up with great effort. "The one night I don't want to bother my a-"

The Tower's alarm had started up as well, bringing everyone rushing into control central again. "What's happening? What'd I miss?" Teleka yawned as she realized any trace of laughter had faded from the room.

"Telly, don't turn round," Blue Moon whispered softly, almost fearfully to her, with a fair idea that Teleka would automatically spin to the screens behind her. For once though, she didn't. The only fair idea she had was of who was on those screens. The next voice she heard confirmed her fears.

"Let her turn. Let her see what she's done."

'Slade,' she mouthed noiselessly, turning to face whatever horror she had brought about, in no doubt that it was something to do with her brother.

"I believe you already know that your brother belongs with me now, and _I _know that's not what you want for him. So I propose a deal,"

"Why am I hating our arrangement already?" she muttered sarcastically, fully on her guard because of the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Slade wouldn't want money or items, or anything else that she could use against him. He wanted her.

"I will let your brother go, just as I did for you, if you will return to fill his place."

"I expected as much. I'll have to think about it."

"Take your time. But in two hours, your brother could find himself facing a very nasty accident. I trust you'll have made a decision by then." The picture flickered off screen and all eyes turned to Teleka. Even through the seriousness of the situation, she could have laughed. Inside all of their heads there was only one question: "Will she do it?"

"Well, I don't see what other choice I have. I can't let my brother meet his little accident. I got out before; I'll do it again."

"Slade said he let you go before. What's that all about?" Venom asked worriedly. Teleka had been to the edge and back where the Bad Guy Side was concerned. Slade had had time to size her up. He could use every little part of her in blackmail.

"It was a, uh, mutual decision. Really he just wanted somebody on the outside who he could use like this, but I couldn't pass the opportunity up. I'm sorry. I dragged you all into this."

"Don't apologize. I've got an idea," Beast Boy proclaimed proudly.

"Ideas require thought. Did it hurt?" Raven muttered cynically.

"_No_. What if we bug Teleka so we can see and hear everything that's going on? That way we can bust in and take Slade out when we get a weak spot."

"You think he won't check for that? The kind of bugs we'd need are far too obvious. Plus, I don't like the idea of being turned into Cy!"

"What!" Cyborg raged, taking undisguised offence at the remark.

"It's nothing personal, but metals just aren't a great look for me."

"Oh, well, what if the bugs were internal? Would that work?" Cyborg added, seemingly appeased.

"I don't know, probably. Do you have any?"

"Indeed I do, built especially for such an occasion. A two-way inner ear piece," he proclaimed proudly. "We'll be able to hear you, you'll be able to hear us."

"Good for me," Teleka sassed, turning and walking away. "Another Christmas at _Chez Slade_." Her favourite day of the year was coming up in three days. The chances that she would be out in time were slim, unless the weak spot came up really soon. "I'll be back in a minute."

_Twenty_ minutes later, Raven found her in her room, pulling something from the closet she had temporarily made her own. Sensing Raven's presence, Teleka wiped away the last of her tears and finally brought herself to tear the thing out of the wardrobe by the hanger and let it fall to the floor. Just touching it made her remember all the things she'd done. And remember too that some of them were things she had enjoyed.

"Don't tell anyone I still have that, 'k?" she whispered shakily. Raven lifted the garment with her powers and laid it flat on the bed.

"Not a soul," she murmured in reply, staring down at the red and black Slade uniform. "Like you said, some things are hard to let go of."

_Another _twenty minutes later, and the inner earpiece was fully installed. Itchy, but invisible, it had gotten Teleka thinking. What if she was all darkness somewhere inside? What if going back here only made her realize it? And what if, after fighting it all this time, she finally gave in?

"I need you to promise me something," she burst out urgently. "Have Blue monitor every word I say. I'll be lying to Slade the whole time. If you hear a single word of the truth that you don't like, stop it. Don't come in and I'll get myself out of it. Promise me!" she yelled, almost hysterically.

"Whoa, Telly. We promise, ok?" Venom said soothingly, pushing her down onto the sofa. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just... scared to death!!! What do you think is wrong with me?"

"Come now Teleka, there's no need to be scared." Slade's voice emanated from the surround sound speakers, and rolling her eyes, Teleka turned to face him on the screens.

"You're early. What do you want?" she snapped irritably.

"Your decision. Your freedom, or your brother's?"

"His. Will I make my own way there or will you have me delivered just like last time?"

"No, I trust you. Be here by tomorrow morning." And just like that, he was gone again.

"I really, _really_ hate the way he does that. I'm going to get Elena ready for the morning." She stood and left the room slowly and tiredly, as if she was trying to put across how much she didn't want to do this. She couldn't sacrifice her brother and she couldn't sacrifice the chance to bring Slade down. But somewhere inside she knew it was a trap, and hadn't said anything. She just wasn't going to let her friends walk into it too.

"Who is Elena?" Starfire asked innocently.

"Her damn bike," Blue answered ruefully. The group had begun to drift away, nothing and noone keeping them in this room anymore. Raven hovered off after Teleka, finally catching up to her as she reached the basement garage. Parked not far from the Teen Car and the R-cycle, was a sleek black machine she had never seen before. Elena, she guessed.

"Nice transport," Raven commented, running a hand over the red detailing and chrome bars.

"You should have seen her when I found her. An absolute wreck. But there was definitely potential there and I rebuilt her. My Elena."

"Yeah, what's with the name?"

"Elena was the mother I never knew, but she left me her powers, and I had to thank her somehow. I guess I let her down in a whole lot of ways." She drifted off, staring into space as if she were a million miles away, spinning her dark helmet between her hands.

"You're flashing back. What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Lie!" declared Blue Moon, who had just entered. Teleka rolled her eyes disdainfully. All she'd wanted was two minutes on her own. Well, two hours may have been better, but that had been too much to hope for.

"You don't have to start until I get there, Blue."

"But, I'm practicing."

"Here's a tip. Don't!" Throwing her helmet to the floor, Teleka stormed out and soared upwards, hoping to find some sort of peace on the roof up around the storm clouds that were wheeling overhead. Flashes of lightning flickered in the sky, and thunder drowned out any other noise. The rain was yet to start. Hard to think that an hour ago, she had been absolutely beaming. Now she was at a point even beyond crying. Hopelessness. She wouldn't let them follow her into a trap, and she would do anything to prevent that.

With a deep sigh she fell back onto the cold cement rooftop, not knowing exactly what to do. She had believed that once she got away from Slade, she would never have to return to the lifestyle. But here she was going back again. Away from warmth and light, and back into blood and tears. Just like she always had done.

A shaft of orange light from inside fell across her face as the door to the rooftop was opened, almost reminiscent of the old black and orange clothing she'd probably be facing up to pretty soon. Teleka moaned and shook her head. Was there no escape from her friends? For once her mood didn't change when she saw it was Robin. "What is it?" she sighed wearily. She wasn't really in the mood for a heart to heart right now.

"So I can't come onto my own roof now?" Teleka rolled her eyes at the blatantly obvious gag. "Alright, alright. I just wanted to see how you are. It can't be easy."

"You don't say?"

"So you're scared then?"

"Scared? Me? Nah. I'm freakin' petrified," she murmured regretfully.

"I know what you're trying to do. You think you can trick us into leaving you, so we won't walk into it."

"Into what?" Telly asked innocently, trying to hide the fact that her whole plan had just flowed off his tongue. Even though the mask hid his eyes, she could tell they were turned sky high. "OK, but how did you figure that out?"

"He's using your brother. He just wants you to use as bait to take the rest of us. But we won't leave you. I don't think Blue Moon would let us."

"You wouldn't let us either, mate!" came Blue's distinctive, London accent, "So don't even try to pull that cr-" She was abruptly silenced by Teleka holding her mouth shut and floating her down to the ground outside the tower, locked out and not exactly wishing to return to the rooftop.

"See, I wasn't the only one who figured out the plan."

"Yes, actually, you were. Blue eavesdropped the whole conversation, so if you don't mind I have to get in her head and make her forget. And, uh, you're next." She dropped her head, her eyes casting red beams on the ground, as she began to scramble Blue's memory of the last few minutes. She rarely used her ability to mess with other people's heads. It was just wrong, but this was an emergency. She moved straight to Robin's, hoping he wouldn't notice, but was rudely interrupted.

'Wouldn't you rather have one person who knew what was going on?' he thought, speaking straight to her mind.

'You'll figure it out again,' she replied easily, but the one thing about telepathy is that you can't hide your feelings.

"Telly, I promise I won't go in if you think it would be better," he said aloud, cradling the side of her face. He wouldn't have been if he'd realized that Raven, Blue Moon and Starfire were watching over the edge of the building, and Venom, Cyborg and Beast Boy were looking in from a crack in the door.

"That's the one thing I _always _hated about you. You're a hothead! You'll say that, and then when it comes down to it you'll walk everyone right in, trying to play the hero. Then again... one thing I always loved was that you never go back on a promise." Slight gasps and rolled eyes all around from those in the shadows.

"The last bit was good but what do you mean, 'play the hero!' I do _not_ play the hero." And yet again, they both missed the stifled laughter surrounding them.

"Ha! That's the best laugh I've had all week. But if it annoys you so much, then tell me what you hate about me."

"You're too much of a loner," he replied, maybe a little too quickly. "You rely too much on yourself and tend to abandon people and isolate yourself because you're afraid other people'll get hurt. And you don't need to be like that."

"You had that planned, didn't you? So what do you love about me?"

"The rest." Possibly the quickest answer she'd ever heard, practically before the words had left her mouth, Teleka stared up bewildered, biting back the urge to squeal like a pathetic schoolgirl. Blue Moon however, did no such thing. She started off giggling uncontrollably, but with in seconds she was screeching like a hyena. It wasn't long before bad mimics and more laughter emerged. Teleka stood up, stalked to the edge and looked first out at the hovering Blue with fires raging in her already red eyes and then down at the slight smile of Raven and Starfire's shocked look. Slightly ashamed, she pulled her glare back to Blue and took off.

"You. Fly, now!" Still in hysterics, the cockney hyena started to soar away and Teleka gave chase, running off a little of her anger.

Raven and Starfire slid inside via the panoramic front window, avoiding the scene on the roof. Three against one wasn't usually good odds, but with Robin in his current mood, the odds were pretty much stacked _against_ the other three.

"Now, Robin," Cyborg began, sweating considerably. "There is a perfectly good explanation as to why everyone was up at the roof at the exact same time you wanted a little privacy with Teleka before she goes off to possibly sacrifice herself. There really is!"

"I'm waiting for it." Robin stood, utterly not amused with his arms folded and glaring. Cyborg (for once) found himself at a loss for a snappy comeback. So, and this maybe not being the wisest decision happening, Beast Boy broke in.

"Oh Teleka!" he mimicked flamboyantly, throwing his arms around Venom, who in his best (yet still pretty damn terrible) impression of Teleka replied 'Oh Robin.' But when the sharp edge of a birdarang lodged in the wall behind them, there was a note in the air that it just _might_ be the right time to leave.

"Oh, you had better run," Robin quipped before he took off after them.

Meanwhile, somewhere over Jump City, Teleka was preparing to turn back, grimly reminding herself of all the things she needed to do in the next few hours. She turned, and immediately wished she hadn't. Down below, her brother was running across the rooftops, with a shimmering new katana at his back. And unfortunately, he'd spotted her.

"This used to be your gig, sis!" he hollered upward. "Sure you don't want to join in?"

"I just saved your skin, Tom, and probably sacrificed my own to do so. Do not get on my bad side, because as of tomorrow, this _is _my gig again."

"Yeah, sure," he scoffed, drawing the sword and holding it ready. "Let's get this over with," he murmured, keeping a stronger grip this time for fear of loosing another weapon to Teleka's powers. The other currently lay in two pieces below the camp bed in her room. He wasn't, however, counting on a blue blur doing about five times the speed limit rushing in to grab it. Teleka felt the weighted handle drop into her waiting palm and laughed gratefully.

"_Gracias, _Blue!"

"Not a problem, mate. Kick his arse!"

Teleka turned to her brother with a playful glint in her eyes. "Like _you _said, let's get this over with. Like _she_ said, I'll kick your arse." Using the katana with her powers, so it was more like a fifth limb, she swiped it at him, launching into a fury of kicks and punches, perfectly coordinated to match his own. It was just like in one of her video games: it was a case of who made the first mistake.

But again, like her video games, she was being manipulated. In a few minutes, she was up against the edge of the roof. Had he forgotten she could fly? Swipe landed a heavy kick in the centre of her chest, forcing her over but she flipped gymnastically and grappled with the edge. "Why are you doing this? You're free, you can go!" she shouted in frustration, driving the sword in between the tiles of the roof to use as a handhold.

"But I don't want to." Swipe snatched up the katana before she could get a hand on it and slammed the flat of the blade across the knuckles. Even as Teleka was forced to let go, her powers went on autopilot and pulled her into the air again. "Say goodnight," she whispered, soaring towards him. She swept past in a burst of power and returned the kick, sending him straight to Blue's waiting arms.

"Stop struggling, mate," sighed her friend. "You know you're done in."

"So you see, I don't know what you have against me," Teleka told the projected image of Slade in front of her, quite matter-of-factly, stepping aside to show her brother, looking considerably beaten and held to a chair by the glowing Raven.

"Oh I do," he replied slickly. "You see, the 'accident' I was taking about earlier is on the inside. And I _will _kill him. From the inside, out." A collective gasp went up through the Titans. They all knew Slade was capable of it. And they all knew how much it hurt.

"That's not possible," Teleka muttered, looking away in humiliation and knowing full well that it was.

"Would you like me to demonstrate?"

"No! No, I'll come. Just give me a few hours." A minute spider, Beast Boy, rested on the power button of the television, and suddenly grew, the insect becoming the usual green visage and the extra weight causing the screen to turn off. Noone knew quite what to say. Teleka had known she shouldn't get her hopes up, known Slade always had another trick up his sleeve. Now she just felt utterly hopeless for ever believing she could get out of it. "Looks like I'm going. See y'all sometime. And I will be back. Meanwhile, get those goddamn probes out of my brother. And speaking of you..." She stalked over to her brother and slapped him backhand across the face, so hard it even stung her.

"You love me all the same."

"Sometimes I wonder. If I ever see your lying, cheating, treacherous face here again, or anywhere within five hundred feet of me again, for that matter, it will not happen twice, because I will pummel your face beyond recognition. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sis. Now I wouldn't keep the boss waiting." Something about his cool flippant manner worried her.

She turned and began to walk out of the room, snatching up her backpack as she went. "Don't let him out of your sight. Goodbye!" And in a heartbeat she was gone and the noise of a revving engine could be heard. Goodbyes didn't matter, she always had the earpiece.

A few hours later, after numerous detours and long ways, Teleka skidded the bike to a stop outside the huge complex. "Deja freakin' vu," she muttered under her breath as she walked up to the main entrance.

"You don't usually take so long. Out of gas?" Slade's voice startled her just the tiniest bit as the heavy door swung open, but she didn't let it show.

"What can I say? I've never had to make so many goodbyes before."

"Good to see you haven't changed anyway."

"I have _changed_ a lot more than you seem to think. The only reason I'm here is my brother and the fact that you have me in a vice. A vice I _will_ get out of in the end, just like always."

"I don't think you realize how _little_ you've changed Teleka. You're focused, protective, and you do nothing in halves. And no matter how much you try to deny it, you are still dark in there somewhere. But right now, you can just ignore that, because you have to _focus_ on getting back in training." Just the sight of him made her so angry, knowing he was right made her absolutely furious. Even through her thick leather gloves her pointed nails bit into quaking palms.

Following the half-shadowed form of the crime lord through the complex until all the familiarity of the place came rushing back to her like the plot of a bad dream. And with sudden fear she knew where she was being taken. "No. Not now, please. No! I haven't done anything except what you told me."

"You have to remember whose side you're on."

"No! No, I know whose side I'm on. Yours! It's all evil in me, totally black. You know that, right? Don't do this!!!"

"Just to be on the safe side." Only one place could make Teleka so afraid, and make her show it. There was nothing particularly terrible about that single room. It was completely dark, soundproof, stiflingly hot, choking air and the sunken floor was filled up with icy water. But that was it. No killers in the dark, no poison in the air, just a deafening silence and the feeling of intense isolation. In one last-ditch attempt to save herself the horrors, she slammed the door ahead of her with her powers. "Or there is one other option..."

"Anything!!! Within reason... but, uh, anything!!!"

"Let them _rescue _you," he spat sadistically. "When the time comes, let them walk into the trap."

"What trap?" she asked in her most innocent-and-shocked voice, but he could tell she was lying. He had taught her how to do it. As much as she sensed the test, Teleka couldn't allow herself to be drawn into it. Opening the heavy door into the isolation chamber again, she stepped inside, the first time she'd ever done so (she was usually dragged or thrown.) It wasn't like her to let one thing get to her so much, but being in there seemed to bring out the old remnants of darkness in her soul. It made her think only about what she had enjoyed, and why she didn't hate herself for it. "You can never make me forget them," she stated coolly. "What my friends have given me, you can't take it away."

"You can't possibly tell me you loved every single minute. Or that you hated every minute here."

"No. No I guess I can't." It was the truth, and Teleka wasn't the only one that noticed. Blue traced it, and even from the look on her face, so did everyone else...

This time, Teleka had something to keep her sane stepping into the chamber.

'Anybody there?' she sent out with her telepathy, aiming for any of her friends. 'What's happening?'

"You don't want to know," replied Blue and Raven collectively.

'Obviously by the way you just said that, I do."

"It's your bro, mate," Blue told her hesitantly. "We got slightly distracted and currently he's wrecking and slashing his way to the window. And, um, so far, he's just escaped."

'Go after him!" Teleka shouted into her head, all the stress in her manifesting with her silent voice.

"He'll go back to Slade. It's a trap." Raven spoke calmly, obviously trying to suppress the panic in Teleka. What she hadn't realized was that Teleka knew all along. "We'll get you out somehow, just not tonight."

'Take your time. Really, it's cool.' Before anymore questions could be asked, Teleka cut her connection and fell back against the wall, ignoring the freezing water as it wavered beneath her leather Slade uniform. The others didn't know she'd brought it, didn't even think she still had it, but her she was in a high-necked red jacket and boots, and black trousers. Not that she could see any of it now, here in the total dark, trying so hard to fight the shadows that had nothing to do with light.


	5. Resurrection

5

"So what do we do about Teleka?" Venom asked worriedly, in his seldom used, gravely voice.

"Nothing." All eyes turned to Robin.

"Listen, I know you've got issues with Slade, but I'm not leaving her with him to fester. That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard! Have you completely lost your meagre little mind!!!" Blue screeched in about seven pronounced emotional turns before collapsing back into her previous, despairing position on the sofa.

"Teleka wouldn't want us to walk into a trap, you know that Blue," Cyborg added, reluctantly backing Robin up, but with no real conviction.

"AND WHAT!!! When have I ever complied with what someone else wanted? I don't care about you people, but I'm going to get her out. And I am going now. So, if anyone here really considers and values Teleka as a friend, they can come. If you don't, then I hope you can live with yourselves."

"Didn't you hear what she said? She didn't always like it here, and she never fully hated her work with Slade. Can you really trust her after that?" Beast Boy added, stopping Blue in her tracks when faced with the truth.

"No! Obviously not..." Again she returned to the sofa and buried her head in a cushion. "I just don't see how, if that really was true, she could have pretended to put up with _me_, of all people, for two years. And it just doesn't seem like Telly, but you're right. She can get herself out anyway."

"Why should we leave her? Noone has asked her whether or not it was true. Blue Moon's power is not infallible." Starfire seemed to be lost in confusion. Why should they abandon Teleka because of one tiny, unconfirmed detail? "She was so vague. We do not know what she really meant."

"Precisely," Blue agreed congenially. "I'm not foolproof, so I'm going to find out what she meant."

"Even if it costs you your life?" Raven had been mostly silent until that point, almost as if she were miles away, but now she spoke with her usual solemn purpose. "I was just communicating with Teleka. She heard everything with the earpiece. She says she won't let us get hurt, and things are far too dangerous at the minute. If we go, and this is a direct quote, she'll hold us out, even if Slade asks us in for tea and biscuits. Telly says we should leave it over Christmas so he thinks we're leaving her."

"Yes, even if it costs me my life. What you're saying means leaving her longer than we need to. Telly will give in, and we don't know what he'll have her doing by New Year."

"If you have so little faith in her, why do you want to get her out at all?" Raven threw in, suddenly not her sullen self and very protective of her friend. "So what if she gave in before, she was younger and she had no real friends-" Robin cleared his throat loudly, obviously hurt. "_Only_ _one _real friend. She knows better now."

"Whatever," muttered Blue, sitting down again for the third or fourth time. "But if things go horribly, horribly wrong, I just hope all of you can live with yourselves. I just hope I can live with myself for listening to you."

"There is," interrupted Starfire, "one other reason not to leave it until after Christmas. I wish to help, and after that I will not be here."

"What?" asked everyone else but Robin. He had already worked out when Starfire would have to go. After she had sadly explained, the atmosphere had definitely changed. Before anyone could speak, the crackle of static announced the presence of Slade and Swipe on the screens.

"You've figured it out by now, haven't you?" Slade asked hopefully. "I'd be terribly disappointed if you hadn't."

"Let me spell it out anyway," Swipe continued madly, obviously enjoying all the extra attention. "This is a trap, Teleka's the bait."

"So you have two choices. Leave your good friend to suffer and most probably die in the end, or forget about her and save yourselves the bother of fighting your way out. She never wanted to leave in the first place, she loves it here. And she's remembering all that now."

"That's not true!" Blue Moon screamed, flinging herself toward the screen. Venom and Cyborg caught her by the shoulders, pulling her back. "She hated it. I can tell, even without my powers, that you just tried to throw me the biggest lie I've ever heard. She wouldn't have been able to lie to me for so long, not without me noticing."

"Teleka's a grade-A liar, Miss Moon. I taught her how. She can fool the best lie detectors in the world. What makes you so different?"

"Telly's my best friend," finished Blue, faltering and looking away, all the fight in her exhausted.

"If Teleka's so happy, where is she? Let us see her," Beast Boy demanded, noticing that both Raven and Robin were remaining terribly silent.

"Gladly. But she's back in training already. You'll have to excuse me, the lighting's terrible." Swipe sniggered at the worrying last comment. The picture on screen flicked to the black and green light of night-vision. The form of Teleka stood out in bright lime, but then again so did her shackles. She knelt in the utter darkness, the cuffs on her hands and feet roped together with the same chain that was attached to the ceiling. Even if she had had the strength to push herself up, sliding the shackles up the chain, she would have been held on the spot. Her head hung down against her chest morosely, and her eyes were covered with a rough strip of cloth.

"That _can't _be comfortable," Beast Boy cracked. But not even he found it funny, especially not when Raven's elbow suddenly found itself planted in his ribs.

Swipe laughed softly in the background before the picture flickered back to him. "All my sister's power lies in her eyes, y'know? So I figure if they're covered up, then there's nothing she can do about you people walking in. Your choice."

"Some choice," Robin snorted. Go against Teleka's wishes, or let her die. It wasn't a choice, it was another vice grip.

"Life's full of tough choices Robin," came Slade's gravely voice. "And this is one you can't ignore." And once again the two did their disappearing act, leaving behind a suffocating blanket of silence.

"We're going. Tonight. And I don't care what anyone else is doing but _I'm_ going. One night with them and she'll be too far gone. It won't be her fault, but they'll have her again." The first speaker, with all his serious gravity, was Venom. Even to Blue Moon it was probably the single longest sentence that he'd ever strung together. And even though Teleka wasn't there, it was probably a compliment to her from what she heard over the earpiece. It was such a pity they'd know it was there if she spoke.

"I'm with him," Blue agreed quickly, finally achieving the support she'd been holding out for. Even if it was only the two of them against the world, they'd save Teleka, or at least end up with her. Whether or not anyone else joined them didn't matter now.

"I will help too," Starfire replied happily, obviously excited at the prospect of one more chance to help others before she left.

"Anyone else gonna join Teleka's rescue party?" Blue asked hopefully. Noone else volunteered. "Fine then. I'll just not tell you where she's hid everyone's Christmas presents." So immediately Beast Boy joined their ranks. Raven stood and hovered in the space between the two groups.

"Telly will kill us herself if we get caught."

"Good. She can put us out of our misery then, can't she? Does this mean you're in?" Blue argued loudly in the broad cockney accent she was so proud of. Raven nodded and floated all the way over, casting a cold, questioning look at Cyborg and Robin, knowing one was only there for the other.

"But we won't get caught if we're all together," she finished. Five seconds later, the usual conspiratorial glances were shared. "Listen, Teleka never really wanted us to stay out. Robin you said it yourself up on the roof last night; she's too much of a loner. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt. The only reason she's even in there is because she wanted to save her brother's life, and looked how that turned out. So the least you can do for her is help her now. Now that she needs it."

"Alright!" Robin said, eventually caving in, as everyone had known he would. And with Robin in, Cyborg was given. "Blue, you seem to be organizing this. Have you got a plan?" he asked sceptically.

"Yes, actually," she replied defensively. "It's not much but I'd bet any man's money it'll work. Basically, he won't be expecting either Raven or Robin to go after her, so they go and find Teleka, wherever he has her locked up, and the rest of us keep him very, very busy."

"Aren't you forgetting something? Slade wouldn't underestimate both our teams put together. It's not just going to be Swipe and himself. There'll be others."

"Like who, Bird Brain? You took out the Hive, we finished off Cinderblock last week and all the rest are totally secure."

"I wouldn't put any man's money on that," interrupted Cyborg. "You've seen what he can have his Apprentices do. He plays mind games, so God knows what he's got Swipe, a _willing _trainee, working. If he's anything like his sister he's perfectly capable of breaking a few bad guys out of jail."

"Hey don't talk about Teleka like that," Venom hollered, possibly the first time Blue had ever heard that. It was practically his job to remain cool under pressure. He kept everyone else grounded. All her surprise faded into shock however, when a sudden scream split the air. Raven fell out of the air into a crumpled pile on the ground. She seemed to be using her powers, but instead of white, the colour of her eyes had changed to bright crimson red. "I think Telly's ears were burning," Venom whispered, following the rest to watch how this unfolded.

"Ok, I've changed my mind. No more pretending I don't want you," Raven muttered, her usually deep voice replaced with Teleka's lilt. "Please help." Another cry of pain issued from Raven before Teleka returned. "Oh crap. I'd better get of Rae before he pulls the sword. Listen, don't hustle too much, but don't leave it too long either. I'm not sure whether I've got a fever or a cold in this place."

"Teleka, wait!" shouted most of the others together, but the truth was, Teleka still cared too much to see any of them hurt. Raven was the only one she could use, as she was the only one who had ever used any kind of mental power on her, and she already felt terrible about it. Raven blinked swiftly where she lay, and her eyes returned to normal.

"It's like torture," she murmured weakly. "And she won't scream for them. She won't let them see her weaken, but she's almost dying..."

"Well that's that sorted then!" Blue said triumphantly, sensing she was about to finally get her wish. "Who's driving?"

"Is this thing on?" Beast Boy shouted into his malfunctioning communicator, which at that moment decided to start working again and almost deafen everyone else. "It had better stay on," he muttered, a huge, anime bead of sweat appearing on his forehead as he absorbed all the angry glares he was attracting.

"Are you sure this'll work, Blue?" Cyborg asked nervously from behind the wheel.

"Uh, in a word Cy, no. But it's our best, and might I add only, shot. This isn't just another save-the-world gig. This is loyalty to someone who was willing to lay down her life to save someone who threw it back in her face. With the added possibility of taking down Slade, so let's face it, it's not all doom and gloom is it?"

"I agree," Starfire added optimistically. "No matter what happened in Teleka's past, she is our friend now. Correct?" Really, even Star herself had no idea why she was sticking up for Teleka at all. Raven was even more confused, but at the time beyond caring. She had felt the pain Teleka was in, and didn't know how she had hidden it from Slade and his Apprentice. How many was that now he'd been through? Four? Two male, two female. She just couldn't help wondering if there was a pattern. First Teleka, then Robin, then Terra, and now Teleka's brother, just as she came back on the scene. There was always a connection. But she was probably just being paranoid...

"We're here," Cyborg announced dutifully, stating the obvious as the intimidating mansion loomed over them. "But then you already knew that." Blue Moon still carried the radio that tuned into to Telly's end of the earpiece, but had turned it off in angst to switch off Teleka's cries of pain. Now she tuned in for just a second, hoping the waves weren't being blocked by anything.

"Telly, if you can hear me, we're here now. So hold out, just a bit longer." The only reply was a faint grunt that sounded vaguely like 'hurry', and it was her guess that maybe the campaign had been stepped up a bit. What exactly was Swipe trying to prove?

"I know you're listening," came Tom's voice over the crackling connection. "Pity she won't scream, I'd leave her be then, but that always was you, wasn't it sister?" The strain of his blows to her showed in his voice. "Too proud to show a weakness. Newsflash, Tell. Pride is a weakness. I know you're screaming on the inside. One squeak and I'll leave you alone."

"Swipe, I swear to God, if you don't stop torturing her..."

"You'll do what, Venom? Kill me?"

"No, I will poison you to within an inch of your life and let Teleka finish you off."

"Wow, more than five syllables in a sentence. Do you want me to leave out some ice in case your brain overheats?" Venom was starting to go red in anger, and it was only luck and intuition that had Blue turn the radio off before he could crush it.

"Save it for the real thing, mate," she whispered comfortingly. It was only then that the others realized how close the Triquetra were. Just like the Titans, they were siblings in everything but blood. The closest kind of friends, and Teleka was one of them. They couldn't lose her...

"You knew you couldn't keep them out," spat Swipe disdainfully, delivering another shattering blow with the blunt side of the katana. "You're letting your own friends walk into a trap, and knowing they have no way out. You've gotten weak. You let pain overcome your judgement and pride won't let it end."

"For Gotham's sake, bro. Are you reading this off of a script or something? Because it doesn't sound particularly intimidating." The flat side of the katana smacked into her stomach, and even blindfold Teleka could imagine his embarrassed anger. "You've weakened too. My brother used to be able to think for himself. _Swipe_, however can't. He drinks down the lies he's given and asks for more."

"Shut up!" he shouted, swinging the blunt edge of his old-fashioned sword across her throat, choking her so hard she might have died on the spot if it was for Blue's words: Hold out. "I am _twice_ of what you'll ever be."

"Did Slade tell _you_ that as well?" she coughed hoarsely. "I'll let you in on a little secret. He tells everyone that about someone. These are mind games, Tom. He's messing with your head."

"I said, shut up!" Finally, the sharp edge of the sword began to descend, slicing through the air with only the faintest sound. Eyes covered and tied up as she was, Teleka was powerless to resist the blow, but that didn't stop the pain from hitting her, and the sensation of thick, hot liquid coursing down her back. Just then it all built up on top of her and the suppressed scream of all the pain ripped her throat to shreds as it flooded out of her.

"Happy now, Tom? You should have done that earlier," she gasped through laboured moaning. Now she had to hope the others really did get through to her, and quickly, before she bled to death. With a clatter and splash, the katana fell into the water before her. Either her brother had just undergone the same realization she had, about the damage he had done and given it up, or to go with the more probable explanation, he was simply trying to be dramatic. Whatever way you see it, he had left her a weapon for when she eventually did get out. Now she had nothing else to do but wait, too weak to use her telepathy again, unable to use her telekinesis. Wait in the darkness and remember that's where she'd always been...

Venom, Blue Moon, Starfire and Cyborg walked up to the main door of the complex, Cy blasting ahead of them to 'remove' the slight implication of the door. Meanwhile, unseen on the roof, the tiny bug formerly known as Beast Boy scrabbled inside the padlock of the emergency exit. After some struggle between such a small animal and the tumblers, the lock clicked open and without another word he morphed into a crow and swooped down to join Blue and her private army.

Robin and Raven pulled up over the edge of the flat concrete roof and silently removed the cover. Thanks to his extensive experience, Robin claimed to have a fair idea of where Teleka was being held.

Blue Moon's eyes narrowed into cobalt slits when Slade stepped out of the shadows not far ahead of her. "Is this invite only or free gaffe, guv?" she sassed, flying at him with superhuman speed. Even though she was no more than a blue blur, he managed to somehow grab her solid fist and throw her over onto her back. From where she lay, Blue spun and swept his feet from under him, and jumped up only to find herself face to face with Swipe. Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy launched a fresh barrage on Slade (even starbolts seemed to have very little effect), who effortlessly parried every move. In a flash (literally,) Blue had both Swipe's hands behind his back and Venom was moving in, fangs encroaching on his lips.

"Remember my promise?" he hissed dangerously, eyes becoming yellow pools with slit-like pupils. "I don't go back on promises."

"Really," snorted their adversary. Kicking off from the ground and using Venom as a wall, Swipe ran up and over Blue Moon's head, so she was now the one in danger.

"Ooh heck!" she squeaked. "No sudden movements, Ven. Go nice and slow while I figure out how I could possibly get out of this little hold which has my wrists in extreme pain."

The door to the isolation chamber was securely locked. As in, wouldn't budge an inch, even with Raven and Robin's combined efforts. "Telly, are you there?" Raven called as loudly as she dared.

"Rae?" Teleka's reply was utterly weak, barely even audible through the thick steel door. "Rae, go back they're coming back for me."

"We're not leaving you," Robin interjected, working at the hinges on the door, but getting nowhere.

"Robin, why did you do this?" Telly croaked inside. "The only reason I left your memory was so you could keep them out."

"Blue Moon's scary when she on the war path, and the whole situation drove Venom to actually speak in full sentences, so... I didn't really have a choice... Uh, Raven I think it's your turn to try the door now."

"Right. You might want to stand back." Her eyes half-closed, Raven used her usual telekinetic incantation on the door, eventually forcing hundreds of emotions out in a single rippling blast of dark energy. The reinforced steel and concrete door bellied and cracked, allowing Robin to simply blast away the pieces with a solid front kick. The pair rushed in worriedly and immediately set at Teleka's bonds.

"Who's that taking off the blindfold?" Telly asked, feeling the tugging and rattling of the chains.

"Raven. Are you ok?"

"I will be when I can use my powers. Where's Robin?"

"Behind you." Teleka cracked her aching elbows back, one either side of Robin's head.

"That's for disobeying a specific order and going back on a promise," she seethed. Seconds later she felt the give in the chains and the cloth fell from her eyes. She turned and flung he arms around Raven and Robin, planting a tiny peck on the latter's cheek.

"And what was that for?"

"Disobeying a specific order and going back on a promise. Where are the others?"

"Keeping Slade and your brother occupied. What's say we go do what we do best?" Raven offered, slightly less monotone than usual.

"Yeah, let's go kick bad-guy butt. I've had a lot of time to think of new ways." Teleka turned to walk towards the door, and just then her rescuers seemed to notice the deep gash on her back. Feeling their worried gaze, Teleka let go of a deep sigh. "And whatever way we do it, let's make it quick."

"Or you could always take your time, sis." From the corridor outside, Swipe stepped into her vision, with Blue Moon still clawing at his hands where he held the katana across her neck. "That way, if noone's rushing, my grip won't slip."

Teleka merely shook her head with a slight smile. "You're forgetting Tom. You left me this." Slamming the heel of her boot under the handle, Teleka forced the sword he'd discarded earlier out of the water into her hand. "Now let go of Blue, tell me where to find Venom and the others. Before you find the back end of this sticking out of your stomach."

"You don't have the guts."

"I don't? Try me! I think you'll find you'll be the one without the guts," she seethed through clenched teeth. In that tiny second, Swipe's concentration slipped. She sounded so serious. Taking advantage of the weak spot, Venom swooped in from where he'd been held back and threw the katana round Blue's throat by the point. Soon it was in his hands. "And when you're caught between two of your own swords, I wouldn't try me." Teleka jerked her head slightly, ushering Robin and Raven out of the room. She then exited herself and pushed her brother inside, slamming what was left of the door shut behind her. "Let's see how he likes it," she snorted happily.

"What are we waiting for?" Blue yelled after allowing Teleka a minute to gloat. "We can't let Cy, BB and Star hog all the glory for taking out Slade. Let's go help kick his arse!" With that she began to speed away, almost running in to the said second party full on.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Cyborg stuttered. "Go the other way! Run like hell!!!" Knowing it wasn't the time to argue, Blue Moon flipped in the air and blurred in the other direction... straight into a head-on collision with a steel plate rising from the floor.

"Ooh heck!" she muttered nervously, cradling her sore head. In a confused panic, everyone began to run the other way, only to find the same had happened at that end of the corridor too. This was the trap. They were caught like rats. With a scowl that plainly said 'I told you so!' Teleka cracked a hand square across the back of Robin's head. Panels in the walls slid back to reveal speakers

"I really had expected more," Slade uttered, interrupted by the static crackle of the radio. "This was quite disappointing. Two teams together was easier to take down than one at a time, surely you saw that." Teleka's eyes flickered red, possibly in anger, but possibly because she was trying to speak telepathically to such a big group.

"People, things are about to get very confused in here. Plan is, regroup at Titans Tower. Otherwise anything goes. Oh and if anything happens to me for some reason, my last will and testament type thing's in my diary. And I'm sure Blue'll figure out where that's hidden. Good luck."

The crimson light around her began to spread until it included her whole body. Glowing like the orb of a red lantern, she began to rise up, realizing how much she had suppressed her power, simply to stay in control. Now however, the key was to _lose_ control, to let rip with everything she had. Shells of red began to appear around the rest, protection from the next series of events. Teleka had always known she was able to do this, but she had never worked out whether or not she'd survive. Every part of her, her powers, emotions, energy, all went into a single ball of force. Ripples of excess began to flow away from her, causing tidal waves in the air. Eventually there was nothing left inside, and with a single slashing movement, she forced it away from her. Deep beams cut through the air, chopped the walls to pieces, and left nothing of the Slade complex but rubble and destruction.

Drained, she dropped to the ground among the dust, either side of dead while the Titans and remaining Triquetra ran, flew or hovered back towards Jump City. Circular red ripples chased them, the energy that had not been absorbed into the devastation. Last thoughts from Teleka began to reach them, almost like whispering winds, but really telepathic shadows.

6

"We failed..." Blue murmured morosely late that night, once everyone had returned and had their wounds tended. "We lost Telly..."

"There is still time," Starfire said, but even she couldn't sound optimistic at that stage. "We got rid of Slade and Swipe."

"Correction, Star, Teleka got rid of them," Beast Boy whispered huskily.

"But there _is_ still time. She could just be waking up as we speak," Raven intoned. Hope wasn't usually her strong point, but right now, any sort of chance for Teleka was good.

"I'm going to look for her," Blue said quietly, inviting no argument. Nothing was going to change her mind this time.

"You can't Blue," Raven stated. "That amount of telekinetic power concentrated on such a small area would be very unstable. Any number of things might happen and not all of them are good for you or Teleka."

"Lying there's no good for her either, Raven. Come with me if you're so worried." She walked forward and opened the window, ready to fly on out. "Venom, if you want a lift, now's the time to say." With a silent nod, Venom joined her, unwilling to go against her when she was in such a determined mood. "If anyone else wants to come you're perfectly welcome. But you never do though, do you?" She sped off, closely followed by Raven, and landed not far from the ruins of the complex. Venom crumpled to a heap on the ground, fairly shaken from flying just below the speed of sound.

"We shouldn't be here," Raven said, as close to angry as she had been since the incident with her vanity mirror. "By disturbing this energy we're disturbing parts of Teleka's mind. She forced every part of her out when she made that blast. We don't know what we're moving around."

"I don't give a flying monkey's wing what I'm moving about!!! I lost my parents to Slade and his apprentices. I'm not losing my best friend too. I'm getting her out of there dead or alive," Blue yelled frantically. Teleka's loss was clearly affecting her more than she let on.

"Your parents?" Raven asked, confused but sympathetic. So this was why she was so eager to get Teleka out. "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'm with Blue," Venom agreed, "And not just because she's scary." A dome of rippling crimson had formed around the ruined edifice. Even as Blue made to run straight through it, Raven called her to a halt. "Listen, mate, I've already told you, I don't give a s-"

"That's not what I was going to say. You can't just run straight into her mind. I'll take you through. A bubble of darkness formed around the trio, parting the redness like curtains and allowing them straight through. "I don't like being here. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy."

"No, reading her diary is the ultimate invasion of privacy, and I do that every night. So there you go."

'Every night?' A whisper echoed off the crimson walls, sending crackling beams through the air, slight anger and annoyance.

"Teleka? Where are you?" asked all three in unison.

'At the minute, I'm everywhere. It's kind of peaceful. But you have to leave. I need to gather me up again. It won't take so long."

Nodding and absorbing the 'I told you so' look from Raven, Blue turned, but found she couldn't get through the wall. "Um, bit of a problem there, mate. Actually, I can't get out."

'Oh crap. Probably means there's something here messing me up. I'd better take out the trash...'

"Teleka, what do you mean?" Venom asked tentatively.

"The dark side part of me. I'd better get rid of it while everything's in free float.' Her voice seemed more distant now, right towards the back of the dome, where the light seemed to be absorbed into nothingness, creating a black abyss. 'Don't come over here. Seriously, stay out,' muttered Teleka's whisper fearfully, sensing Blue Moon being drawn towards a certain part of the darkness. 'No!' she nearly shouted, throwing her back with a bolt of power.

"What are you hiding from me, Telly? What's so terrible you don't want me to see?"

'Nothing. It's just the worst part of me. I don't want you to see what I've done because I'd never be able to look any of you in the eye again. This is what I'm trying to get away from.'

"No, it's more than that. It's one specific memory, and something tells me it's as much a part of me as it is you. Moving faster than ever, evading both Raven and Teleka's attempts to keep her out, Blue flung herself into the darkness, into the absolute cold...

_Suddenly it was as though she had stepped back in time, to the night her parents were killed. Just like she remembered, Slade was there, wrecking total havoc on her tiny street in the south river area. She still had no idea why... but this time when she turned away from the window, saw them lying there, lifeless and looked onto their killer, something had changed. The figure she had always seen, the slim, child-like personage studying her mother's prized diamond necklace was some how familiar. A black and red catsuit, red boots, long black duster... Half her face was hidden in darkness, the other behind red-tinted goggles and a black half-mask, but Blue Moon knew now._

_Though she couldn't change what had really happened in her past, she stalked up to the killer and tore away the mask, pulling her into the shaft of bluish moonlight from the window. The whole façade seemed to peel away, leaving the second Teleka, the hero who had simply been misled, sobbing where Blue held her by the upper arms. 'I told you not to,' she cried pitifully. 'I never wanted you to see me like I was. I didn't even know you... I can't apologise... He forced me to do it...'_

"_Telly..." Blue whispered hurtfully. "No!!!" Over and over again she screamed, flinging Teleka against the hard floor, not caring what kind of damage she did..._

"No!!!" Rough hands pulled her back, and Raven's dark powers held her there. "I want her dead!!!" Somewhere in the darkness she had found Teleka's body, the empty shell that she would soon have to gather into. The dark void slowly began to disappear until it faded completely. The red lights were sucked back into her in a swirling vortex.

"That was the last of it..." she muttered as her eyes flickered open, full of hot tears. "Blue, I'm too sorry to even say it, but whether I like it or not, that's what I was then. It's the one thing I've been trying to get away from."

"No. You can't just say that. What you did cannot be undone. And I will never, _never_ forgive you Teleka."

"I know. And you shouldn't. I didn't kill them, Blue..."

"No, but you stood there and watched, and then had the cheek to go after my mother's jewels. I cannot say how much I hate you now. I really can't!"

Half crying, half screaming, Blue shouted with inhuman fury before taking off away from them. The darkest parts of her past had been caused by her best friend. Ironically, those had also been Teleka's darkest times. The accused sat there in the rubble, ignoring the horrified looks from Venom and Raven. Everything had been so much easier when her secrets were still secret. Suddenly, her sadness disappeared for a second, replaced with awareness and worry.

"Leave. Now," she commanded with authority.

"Teleka, we don't want to leave you because..." Venom said moving closer to her where she knelt, powering up already.

"Not what I meant V. You really have to go. Now!!!"

"Teleka, you shouldn't be using your powers so quickly," Raven warned sternly, knowing that if Teleka exhausted herself then the chances of her pulling through again were a lot slimmer.

"I have no choice. Get out of here, before she comes..."

_Meanwhile, at Titans Tower..._

"I am starting to feel so bad that we let them go alone," Starfire fretted, pacing up and down behind the sofa where somehow Beast Boy, Cyborg and Robin were able to sit peacefully watching the television. Realizing she wasn't getting the point across, she coughed suggestively, "_I said, _we should have gone with them."

"Star's right," Beast Boy said, for once in what he denies as a seizure, giving up the remote.

"We _should _go after them," Cyborg agreed, looking sideways at Robin. He knew what it was; the guy just didn't want to get his hopes up. "It's not like we'd be holding out for Teleka, just making sure Rae doesn't get hurt."

"Alright, let's go. But none of this would have happened if we hadn't gone in the first place," Robin muttered, taking the opportunity to remind everyone of how perfect he was.

"Oh God, too late," Teleka whispered fearfully as a chill wind swept around her. "She's here. Try to stay out of the fight; this is something I have to do alone." The gust seemed to blow right through her, emerging at the other side with a darker edge. In the blink of an eye, all the black from Teleka disappeared, leaving her in a pure red glow. Standing facing her was her own shadow, mirroring her every move. The mirror image of darkness was perfect in every detail. The darkness in Teleka personified.

"Why do you do this to me?" she asked it angrily, its lips copying every syllable.

"Better question is, why do you do this to yourself?" Teleka's anger became even stronger, more overcoming as she found she was forced to mimic the copy. The slash of red energy she sent at it was perfectly matched with that of dark. They both flew backwards at the same time.

"Ah. Obviously not going to work," murmured the real Teleka, nursing her sore back after the awkward landing.

"Obviously," echoed the shadow. With no real plan in her head, Teleka leapt forward to tackle it, but found herself in the same hold. It was impossible to gain an advantage. Either she accepted the darkness, or she went with it... Feeling the pain of every blow she dealt as it was mirrored, she wondered exactly which would come first.

Not long after, while she and the shadow were still locked in combat, the remaining Titans appeared. Most of them immediately rushed to find out what was going on. Beast Boy however, did another mysterious disappearing act in the guise of a snake. Following the serpent out of curiosity, Cyborg found him at the wrecked gate of the complex, wad of money in one hand, with a cue of people streaming past him.

"Cy! Thank God, we're getting gatecrashers. I could really use a doorman."

"What are you doing!!? Teleka could be dying!"

"I'm selling tickets to the fight of the century, what does it look like? The world missed you and Robin splitting the dozens, why should they miss out on some of the best action scenes they'll ever witness."

"I don't believe this!"

"You'll get your cut," BB drawled, lazily waving the cash under Cyborg's nose.

_Roughly five seconds later..._ "Hey you there! Yeah, you. You got a ticket? 'Cause noone gets in without a ticket."

"We must help her!" Starfire fretted worriedly, waving her hands frantically towards the fight.

"No," Raven replied simply. "The darkness in her is too strong. We can't interfere. Besides, any damage we do to Dark Teleka happens to our friend Teleka as well."

"But then, if she's going to kill _it,_" Robin said slowly, using his God (or Bat) given detective powers to work it out. "Then she'll end up killing herself..."

"I'm not letting her do this," Venom muttered determinedly, making for the fight.

"What exactly do you intend to do, Venom? Anything you do will only speed it up," Raven stated morosely.

"Not attack her anyway. We need to make the shadow weaker, so if it has no purpose it won't exist. So if I can get Blue to forgive the _real_ Telly, the Dark version should fade. It's worth a shot." He walked off with solemn principle, not knowing exactly where to find Blue Moon, but having a rough idea of the direction.

A large crowd was beginning to gather, drawing _just a little_ attention to the gate, where Cyborg was now taking bets and using his detachable arm as a turnstile. Robin was in no doubt that they would try to pull something like this. Stalking over, he stopped the latest admission in his tracks, pushing him back the same way he had come. "We're full," he stated coldly.

"What are you doing?" Cyborg yelled. "That arm, I mean, turnstile only goes one way!"

"You're shutting down my most lucrative operation," BB fumed, showing he knew words with three or more syllables after all.

"And Teleka is going to be shut down permanently if we don't, for reasons I'm not sure I understand, find Blue, got it!" Robin shouted, just a bit overprotective of Telly. It only took a second for the duo to get the hint. They both set off to follow Venom, but not before cautiously splitting the money behind Robin's back.

Raven had placed a protective black bubble around the fight, mostly for the benefit of those certain people who refused to leave without a refund. "Let's just hope they find Blue before she blasts herself again," she muttered, almost inaudibly, but Starfire picked it up.

"What do you mean, 'again', Raven?"

"This happened before, when she came to Azarath. Sometimes it seems her dark side just takes over. Last time, the shadow won, but not before Teleka threw everything she had at it. Consequently, it threw everything back. It almost killed her, and she always said, if she ever had to do it again, she'd give it one hundred and _ten_ percent. She just wants rid of it."

"They'll find her," Robin replied uncertainly. Starfire had flown off to help, but the chances of finding someone as fast as Blue Moon were slim to none. And if he'd known what she had just found out, he'd have kept his mouth shut. A rumbling filled the air, so deep it seemed to penetrate everything. The same red ball of energy from earlier that day began to shimmer like a beacon on the night around Teleka's form. It was just as before, she began to float upward, utterly absorbed in the power as it surrounded her. The one difference was, now there was a dark mirror facing her.

"Oh my Gotham," Raven gasped. "They'll never be back in time now." Even as she spoke the fragile air began to crackle like breaking glass. As Raven struggled to hold back a hundred emotions, the black wall began to spray sunbursts of dark energy. She wouldn't be able to hold it up for much longer; ripples of red and purest black were forcing it outward.

"This is bad. This is very, very bad," Robin muttered in a slight panic. If he thought back on it, this was his entire fault. If he'd just kept his promise... Then Teleka would probably have bled to death. And in her current position she was going to die anyway. Was there anyway to win?

Splinters of red and black started to connect in the air, causing tiny explosions, just a taste of what would come. Teleka opened her eyes again, seeing the world through a scarlet haze. The only thing invading the perfect redness was the shadow. She made the decision there and then. She couldn't live with that thing inside her, knowing it could come out again. The crimson ball of energy continued to grow, as did its dark counterpart. When the two orbs finally met, it was beyond all imagination...

Red and Black explosions stained the air, just as the search party, complete now with Blue Moon appeared over the edge of the hill. "But, I don't understand," muttered Blue, in tears. "I forgive the good part of her. I was never mad at the good side..."

At her words the very air seemed to change. Previously it had been a complete balance, an even mix, but with the suffocating clouds of dark floating towards anyone it could find. Now the red seemed to somehow grow and take over. Teleka was fighting back. She wouldn't let it win this time. The same chill gust of wind as before passed again, dragging the energy back into Teleka's limp floating form. She began to tumble to the floor, but found herself caught in by Blue, zooming in to the rescue at the last second.

"Oh my Gotham, Teleka, I'm sorry. I didn't know there were two of you; it hadn't exactly crossed my mind. And... And..." she realized she was gabbling on to noone. It seemed Teleka was gone. Starfire was the only one brave enough to check for a pulse. She shook her head grimly when she could find none.

"No!" Raven cried, losing control of her powers slightly and bringing to nearby rubble down in a landslide. "I can help her..."

"Listen Rae," Cyborg consoled, trying to slide a mechanical arm around her shoulder. "There's nothing we can do for her."

"Yes there is!" she fumed through gritted teeth. "Let me focus." One hand hovered above Telly's head, another over her heart. From the dark discs at her palms, a white energy began to spread. This white Raven was a very rare occurrence, usually costing her a lot. It was almost like sharing her own life with Teleka, dividing her energies between them. 'C'mon Telly,' she thought desperately. 'I know you can hear me. You have to pull through this. You're still there, come on, come back...'

With a shuddering gasp that racked her body, Teleka pulled air into her famished lungs. Eyes wide open and staring, she managed to somehow sit up reflexively. "I'll be fine," she murmured, in serious shock, before she fell back onto Robin's arms. "I'm so sorry," she managed with a nervous giggle. All her feelings were manifesting one after the other. She had, after all, just died...


End file.
